Rival Angels

Actually, there have been a number of comic book stories (and in one case, a series) in the 40's dedicated to women's wrestling. Dunno if I should write about it, but you never know...

40's era wrestling comics? I never heard of such a thing but would love to check them out. Do you know the titles of any of them?

Doubt that you could! But one series was specifically about a woman wrestler, though it was a humor feature: Daffy, in Quality's SMASH COMICS. She didn't very often wrestle women, because state laws in those days prohibited fem-vs.-fem combat sports, so she usually had to wrestle guys, like the wrestlerettes of her day (and won). Art quality (and story quality) varied with the individual artist, but the best was Janice (Ginger) Valleau, who drew a great-looking Daffy and went on, I think, to Archie Comics.

When women's wrestling was allowed in the postwar world, more than a few strips did a one-off treatment of it as a kicker for a story. I'll see if I can post a splash from one of them here. Of course, there was occassional women fighting, especially in the jungle girl strips, but not as a pro wrestling thing. Gardner Fox, original writer of the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, loved women's wrestling and snuck in a girl fight when he could, usually with Black Canary or Wonder Woman. So much for that.

Here's one of the pages I was talking about, the splash from a Kayo Kirby story from RANGERS COMICS, I think.

Wow! Nice!! Kayo Kirby, eh?

Yup. Maybe I can dig up an old page from a Lady Luck story where the title character gets down and dirty with a woman wrestler at a training camp.

Hey, Albone, I was wondering where you will be at Wizard World. Take it easy.

Hey Rorshach! Yep, I'll be at artist alley 3110A. I'll post a map when I can, but basically you come in through the doors onto the main floor, take your first right and then go straight back. All the way back.

For a few years now I've been playing around with an idea for starting an annual cyber-wrestling convention here in Las Vegas. But it looks like I'm going to have to wait until the Recession is over.

Here's a page from LADY LUCK #88, way back in the late Forties. Enjoy.